Sarah Skidmore
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers pulled away from visiting Oberlin in the second half to secure a 67-50 victory in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) opener for both teams.
The Tigers, who had a 23-game win streak against the Yeowomen snapped last year, improved to 3-3 overall in 2011-12. Wittenberg leads the all-time series with Oberlin, 45-4, as the Yeowomen dropped to 2-4 in the early going of the season.
The final score is somewhat deceiving, considering Wittenberg held a 25-20 lead at halftime but saw the lead dwindle to one in the early going of the second half. Leading just 35-33, the Tigers finally got the offense on track, starting with a three-pointer by senior Lyndsey Clark (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh) at the 11:31 mark. Over the next nine minutes, Wittenberg outscored the Yeowomen 24-10 to put the game out of reach.
Clark led the way with 19 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals. Off the bench, freshman Enri Small (Columbus, Ohio/Columbus School For Girls)contributed 14 points and two steals to the cause, while freshman Amber Lara (Oak Park, Ill./River Forest) and junior Kim Replogle (Houston, Ohio/Houston)added nine points apiece.
Not to be overlooked, defensive ace Sarah Skidmore (Troy, Ohio/Miami East)dished out three assists to go along with two points and two rebounds in 22 productive minutes.
Wittenberg shot just 33 percent from the field in the opening half but bounced back to shoot 53 percent over the final 20 minutes to pull away from Oberlin. The Tigers hit a season-high 10 three-pointers while shooting a red-hot 52.6 percent from behind the arc. The Yeowomen were held to 34.6 shooting from the field, although Oberlin did win the rebounding battle 38-36.